The best Sue Bird stories from Seattle Storm coaches, players

Percy Allen, The Seattle Times on Sep 4, 2025

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SEATTLE — Throughout Sue Bird’s illustrious WNBA career, 120 players suited up for the Storm and technically she played with 113 teammates, considering she missed the 2013 and 2019 seasons because of knee injuries.

Some associations with the soon-to-be Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Famer were brief, such as Raina Perez who appeared in just one game alongside Bird in 2022 while logging fewer than three scoreless minutes.

Meanwhile, former Storm standout Tanisha Wright holds the record for the most games played (330) during Bird’s 19 seasons and 21 years in Seattle.

Bird had seven coaches (Noelle Quinn, Gary Kloppenburg, Dan Hughes, Jenny Boucek, Brian Agler, Anne Donovan and Lin Dunn) and played under two ownership groups after joining the Storm in 2002 as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft.

We asked a handful of past and present Storm players, coaches and front office executives and Bird’s fiancée Megan Rapinoe for their best — fit for print — Bird story and this is what they said.

— Rapinoe: “Sue always wants to go to the Wildrose. I feel like it holds this place in her heart. It was like the gay bar and it was the lesbian bar in Seattle when she was younger. So, the other day, we bombed in there and did a fireball shot. And then she was like, ‘We’re older than everyone in here by 25 years.’ And we got out of there so fast. So yeah, that might be her last foray into the Wildrose.”

— Former Storm coach Brian Agler: “I got a lot of stories, but I think the most important things to understand is her excellence comes from making big plays and making others around her better. That’s why she influences success so much. She brings the best out of everybody. And then she has the ability to really play at a high level and make monster shots in the clutch. That’s what I remember best about Sue. You can count on her. Very dependable leader on the floor. She’s the staple of this franchise.”

— Former teammate Alysha Clark: “My favorite Sue Bird stories are just the kickbacks we had at her house. She was the hostest with the mostest. We would always give her crap for her snacks. She would have the worst snacks ever. Nobody wants to eat sweet potato chips when we’re kicking it on a Friday night. We wanted Doritos and Ruffles, but it was always really fun because of the way she would welcome us into her home. There was always music playing, some sort of food being served, a really good time and a lot of laughs being shared.”

— Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel: “I don’t have a story, but I’ll tell you my favorite moments. They’re the same type of thing and it happened two times, both against Phoenix. The shot in 2010. Incredible. And the shots in 2018 at home. When we were down and she just went boom, boom, boom. Those two things in those moments, represent Sue. Just incredible.”

— Former teammate Ezi Magbegor: “Here’s my first impression of Sue Bird. We were playing in the bubble and obviously I was a rookie. Sue was a player’s coach, and she coached a lot of us in her years here. The first text I ever got from Sue was hello. It was just a ‘Hey’ and nothing else. Then it was a clip of film telling me what to do and where I need to be on certain plays. Her sending that was basically her greatness. She sees so many different things in so many people. For her to take the time to message me and say ‘Hey, this is what you need to work on.’ It was kind of like a fan girl moment for me.”

— Former Storm coach Dan Hughes: “When I first met Sue to coach her, I said: ‘I want to empower you. I want to give you the keys, but there’s going to be a time or two where I have to intervene.’ And the look she gave me … it was priceless. It was like, I don’t know if we’re really going to need that. But it all worked out.”

— Former teammate Breanna Stewart: “I have a few stories. Obviously, when I told her to use her legs in Game 5 against Phoenix and she went absolutely nuts in the fourth quarter scoring 14 points or something crazy. But also, breaking her nose in the game before that. We went through a lot together. Sue is someone who is really genuine in who she is and is very comfortable in her own skin, and she helped me be comfortable in mine just by learning from her, growing up next to her and following in her footsteps.”

— Former teammate Crystal Langhorne: “Sue always has a good story to tell. She’s the best storyteller I know. Her delivery and everything is always great.”

— Former teammate and Storm coach Noelle Quinn: “It has to be Game 5 versus Phoenix in 2018. The game before she broke her nose, and I remember she was confident we were going to win a championship because she said every time she breaks her nose she wins a championship. In Game 5, she put her superhero cape on and hit a deep three and really willed us to get to the Finals. Obviously, Stewie, AC, Natasha Howard and Jewell (Loyd) had a lot to do with making the Finals, but in that particular game it was Sue.”